A burst of static, then a shot of a dark orange unicorn mare with short black frazzled hair looking right at the viewer. The left side of her face was covered in a large burn scar, and she had an eye patch over that eye. The respective front leg was entirely mechanical.
“Okay, Wrench's log, number 52. I'm still at the secondary lab, on Iron Island. A safety precaution, just in case something goes wrong. I don't want anypony getting hurt.”
The room she was in was made of dark gray concrete. It was mostly empty, except for a strange device in the back.
“It's finally time. The Device is ready for testing.”
The mare chuckled to herself softly. “Heh, 'The Device', how enigmatic a name. Its actual name is the Dimension Gate. If successful, I will create a portal that will let me visit an alternate time line! How exciting and shit!”
Wrench Works made her way towards the device. Her cutie mark was of a monkey wrench over a gear.
The device itself was circular, with wired running around and through it. It had a single cubic portion at the top, with a red gem in it.
“Alright, here goes nothing!”
Wrench's horn lit up red, as did the jewel. The machine started to spark, and started to create a violet portal.
“Awesome! It's working!” Wrench exclaimed with an eager smile. She stepped towards the device, which started to vibrate and spark violently. The smile went away, replaced with concern. “Well fuck, that's not suppose to happen!”
There was a flash of black and a scream. There was a loud static over a black screen, and the recording stopped.
Trixie gave a sigh, her breath visible in the still cold air. The fireplace crackled before her, bathing the room in its silvery light. She shivered. Magical fire just wasn't as warm as the real thing, but she ran out of things to burn about a long time ago.
It was getting to be pretty lonely, being one of the last ponies alive. Most of them either died from the cold or killed themselves at this point. Trixie wasn't even sure why she bothered staying alive at this point; There was no point.
It was over. The sun, the moon, the stars... All lost to the Abyss.
It took the combined strength of Celestia, Luna, and Cadence to protect Equuis from destruction as well. Killed them in the process, though.
There was a knock on the door. Trixie slowly got to her hooves, her joints aching. She trotted over towards the front door, and opened it.
Behind it was Spanner Works, holding a lantern with an orange flame inside it. Spanner, a dark orange unicorn just like her late twin sister, had a look of hope upon her wrinkled face.
That was something Trixie hadn't seen in a very long time.
“I did it.” Spanner said, putting the lantern on the ground. “If it works... We could prevent this all from happening.”
A smile started to make its way onto Trixie. “R... Really?”
“Yep! A time machine!” Spanner said.
Trixie Lulamoon and Spanner Works slowly made their way through the town. The only light was from Spanner's lantern, lit by magic. Both ponies had cloaks to keep their old bones from getting to warm.
Most of the buildings in the town were in shambles from disrepair. The ground was stiff from being frozen over. And it was quiet.
So very, very quiet.
There were only a few left alive. Trixie lost her assistant a while back. Then Derpy, then Cheese... One by one, her friends left her. Soon, the only ones left were Trixie, Spanner, and a mare that Radiant had brought all the way from Ponyville. His cousin, apparently.
Trixie looked at the contraption. “Are you sure this will work?”
“We don't have a choice.” Spanner said before giving a hacking cough.
Trixie closed her eyes and looked at the ground. “Who... Who should go back? We're far too worn to do this...”
“I think I have an idea.” Came a female voice.
The two turned to the owner of the voice. The earth pony was dark gray, with a flowing (if slightly frazzled) silvery mane. She wore a pair of blue glasses that had a cracked left lens. Her cutie mark was that of an ornate spoon.
“I could go.” Silver Spoon suggested.
Spanner nodded. “Good idea. The machine is just a prototype, so we can't be sure how far back you'll be sent back. But, it should be before the end.”
Trixie nodded. “See if you can find me whenver you show up.”
Many years earlier
“Gh... Of course I need to go an make friends.” Trixie mumbled under her breath. “At least I got a decent house out of the deal... But out in this nowhere town? Really?”
“Meh.” Kular't the griffon replied as he adjusted his glasses before continuing to put the magic books onto the bookshelf above the fireplace. “I've always said you need to get out more.”
“You don't do that.” Trixie shot back with a piercing glare.
“Well, that's because I'm busy. You know, doing things.” Kular't replied.
“Like napping.”
“Napping is a thing!” Kular't replied.
There was a knock at the door, causing Trixie to sigh. “I guess the town wants to befriend me, then.”
She grumbled to herself as she walked over to her front door. She opened it, to reveal a dark gray mare with a flowing (if a bit frazzled) silver mane.
“I'm going to make this quick.” The mare said. “I'm from the future-”
“No.” Trixie said before slamming the door in her face. It was far too early in the night for her to deal this. “Kular't, make me some coffee. This town is stupid.”
The Buck is Wrong with This Town?
Silver Spoon blinked. Then she blinked again.
Did... Did she just slam the door in my face?
Another blink on her blank expression.
I think she did.
With a sigh, the gray mare knocked again. Trixie opened the door again.
“Look, I'm serious, I am from the f-”
Slam.
Silver sighed then knocked again.
Trixie opened the door again.
“Listen-”
Slam.
Silver waited a minute, then knocked again.
Trixie opened the door again.
Silver opened her mouth to speak.
Trixie slammed the door.
Silver Spoon shook her head. “Obviously this isn't going to work. Right! I should go to see my cousin, I'm pretty sure he'd believe me.”
With that, she trotted off.
“What is wrong with that stupid mare?!” Trixie muttered. “If the whole town is like that, then I'm going to move back to the castle whether Luna likes it or not!”
A pause.
“Kular't! Coffee! Now!”
The griffon sighed as he rolled his eyes. “I'm working on it.”
Trixie raised an eyebrow. “You haven't moved an inch.”
“And you know how to make coffee yourself. What of it?” Kular't said.
“Fine, be that way, lazy bird.” Trixie groaned as she made her way to the kitchen.
“By the way, you're missing a book.” Kular't mentioned casually.
Trixie stopped mid-step. “What?”
“Yeah, it seems that one of them got lost in the move or something. You'll probably need to buy a copy of it.” Kular't said.
Trixie let off a loud and long groan. “This day just keeps getting better and better.”
Silver Spoon made her way through the small town. It was still pretty early in the night, so there weren't that many ponies milling around. But the moon shining its light upon the land, the stars giving companionship, some semblance of warmth gracing her body... This was a much happier time, Silver could tell. Before everything died.
She shook her head. She had to stay focused. She didn't know far back she had gone, so she might not have much time.
Past the fountain, turn right at the optometrist, across from the sandwich shop...
There it was. The house of Radiant Silver, her cousin. Silver Spoon hesitated, then knocked on the front door.
A few seconds passed. Then a minute. Then five.
Silver Spoon knocked again.
No answer.
Silver tilted her head to the side. What was going on? Her cousin was a part of Luna's personal guard at one point. He had a very punctual sleeping schedule. He would definitely be awake by now.
She knocked one more time. After a minute passed, right when she was about to give up, she heard slow hoofsteps approach.
The door opened, revealing... A white mare with a frazzled striped red and pink mane. Her red eyes were drooping. “Fine, fine, what do you want?”
Silver blinked. “Um... I'm looking for... Radiant Silver?” She asked, unsure who this pony was.
“Never heard of him. You have the wrong house.” The mare said before slamming the door in Silver's face.
I don't remember the ponies in this town being this rude... Silver Spoon wondered, her head tilted. But, more importantly, why isn't Silver here? He should be, he moved in not long... after... Trixie...
Her eyes widened as it dawned on her.
Oh buck, how far back did I go?
Trixie walked through the town, a saddlebag on her bag and a “Buck Off” coffee mug in her magical grip. She took a sip of the glorious drink. It would help her deal with the ponies of this Luna-forsaken town.
She trotted up to a building, one called “The Thousand Words”. This is probably the bookstore. It better have the bucking book I'm looking for...
As she walked through the front door, a bell rang softly. Wood paneling, shelves of books to the right, and a gray stallion behind a counter across the room.
“Oh, uh, hi.” The pony said. He had eyes, a plain-styled mane, and a coat of all the same plain gray. He looked a few years older than Trixie. “How may I help you?”
“I'm looking for 'One Hundred Metamorphosis Spells and Three About Cheese'.” Trixie said. “Do you have it or not?”
The stallion nodded. “Probably. Let me check the spell section.” He got up and walked towards the far side of the store. Trixie immediately noticed a lack of a cutie mark on his body.
What kind of pony doesn't have a cutie mark by his age?
Trixie followed him, taking a sip out of her mug, and the earth pony reached up and pulled a book out of the shelf. “Is this it?”
Trixie picked up the book in her magic. She looked at the front cover, the back, and the content between. “Looks like it. How much?”
“Er... 200 Bits.” The pony said, looking down.
“Horseapples, I only brought a hundred.” Trixie said with a sigh.
“That's fine, I'll sell it to you for half price.” The pony said with a smile.
Trixie frowned. “You can't really do that sort of thing, idiot. You'll lose money that way.”
“It's fine, really. I can tell you aren't having a great night.” The pony said.
“...Fine, I'll take the damn book.” Trixie muttered as she reached into her pouch and took out her bag of bits, handing it to the shopkeeper.
He held up the bag. “Great doing business with you.”
Trixie tilted her head as she stashed the book into her bag. “How can you even be sure that's 100?”
“Because it weighs and feels right.” He said quickly.
“Uh... Huh... What's your name, anyways?” Trixie asked.
The shopkeeper hesitated. “...Just call me Generic. Generic Oblivious.”
Trixie's eyes widened. “What kind of a name is that?!”
“I go by that name by choice, okay?” Generic shot back.
Trixie raised an eyebrow, but then sighed. “Have it your way.” She turned around and left.
What a bizarre pony...
Silver Spoon did her best not to panic.
Alright, Silver, don't worry, it's fine. You got no bits, and nopony in town knows who you are, which means there's no way you can convince them that you're from the future. You also have no bits, so getting food will be a problem. Just think of something, think!
Her eyes fell upon the post office down the street.
Of course! The one mare who would be nice enough to listen...
With a smile slowly returning to her face, she raced off towards the post office.